RED Scarlet-W and Scarlet-W Monochrome unveiled: shipping starts in February

RED has introduced its new Scarlet-W and Scarlet-W Monochrome pro-grade cameras. Both models feature RED's Dragon sensor with recording options that include 5K/60fps, 4K/150fps, and 2K/300fps. Additionally, the Scarlet-W Monochrome makes it possible to capture black and white footage with enhanced resolution and improved light sensitivity. Thanks to a durable and lightweight design, Scarlet-W is suitable for on-the-go projects.

RED says its new offering makes 'obsolescence obsolete' by using the DSMC2 accessories line, which is also compatible with RED's Red Raven and Weapon cameras. The same modular design found on RED's other cameras comes with Scarlet-W and is joined by an interchangeable lens mount.

Scarlet-W (body-only) is priced at $9,950 USD/€10,040 EUR/£7,175 GBP with shipping set for February 2016. Deposits are now being accepted at $1,000 USD. Packages are also available starting at $14,500 USD.

Coupling RED’s wide dynamic range and renowned color science with simultaneously recording capabilities in REDCODE RAW and Apple ProRes, SCARLET-W provides shooters with the best image quality possible in any format. Professionals are empowered to capture their vision exactly as they see it with recording frame rates of 5K at 60 frames per second (fps), 4K at 150 fps, or 2K at 300 fps when shooting REDCODE RAW.

SCARLET-W is estimated to begin shipping in February 2016, with deposits now being accepted through the RED website or with a RED Authorized Dealer. Customers have the choice to purchase the camera BRAIN® only—with either a color or black and white monochrome sensor—or the SCARLET-W Base I/O V-Lock Package, which provides the key components necessary to get out and start shooting. Additionally, current SCARLET DRAGON® owners are eligible to receive a $2,500 discount on the SCARLET-W Base I/O V-Lock Package price (Only available through RED.COM).

With this camera coming out, I predict we'll see a surge of black-and-white sequences in upcoming movies. Cinematographers LOVE to intercut their color footage with b&w dream sequences, memory scenes, and horrible crimes.

I also foresee numerous black and white music videos and perfume commercials. This is a great time to be a fan or creator of moving pictures.

"dream sequences, memory scenes, and horrible crimes" ... all of those usually are full of PP work that makes ultra high resolution not really needed... or to rephrase, it doesn't need a different type of sensor unless you actually want to make it event more detailed and sharp image than the rest of the film.

I have found in my (very) limited use of Premiere and DaVinci Resolve that the more resolution I have to start with, the better the results, so it seems to me that it's the same as digital stills in that regard. If you need me, I'll be in the basement watching old black and white movies trying to figure out which techniques I can "borrow" for my upcoming shoots. Glen Ford FTW!

Panavision is mostly in the lens business these days, but still rents out their own cameras to people who shoot on film. Arri's Alexa and Amira cameras have been very popular - they did a great job emulating the film look and have a strong following amongst cinematographers. Sony's F65 and F55 are fairly good cameras, but haven't really stood out in the market. RED's Dragon sensor and its accompanying color science have a great look that has won over many cinematographers that were critical of their previous sensors. Pretty much anything on the high end makes a great image in the right hands, so it really comes down to the needs of your project and the look you prefer.

I've read they already announced the 8K model, if i am not wrong - about to ship in half a year or something, and you can even order now for the 8K, and get the 6K version with a free upgrade to the 8K sensor when it will be available.

The "interchangeable lens mount" is a bit odd. It looks like it has a very short flange distance which should make adapting any lens to it easy, but the process to change mounts looks fairly awkward. I find Sony E-mount (or even Canon EOS-M) more appealing as a universal mount, but both those are proprietary. I suppose cinema shooters are more likely to use lenses with just one mount anyway, and this makes that one mount choice appear almost native for the body while giving you the chance to change your mind after purchase of the body.

Dheorl: I don't think their mount is any stronger (nor is PL mount necessarily stronger than E). Anyway, it doesn't matter because nobody with half a brain hangs a huge lens off a body -- the body hangs off the huge lens or, for cine folks, every modular piece is mounted on a rail system. Then again, I'm sure RED is happy to give the impression that a mount swap is equivalent to having the attached mount be the native mount.

I know you don't actually have the whole weight of the lens on the mount, but it still helps having everything more solidly fixed to one another, and a mount bolted on is almost certainly going to do that better than an adapter on an e-mount.

Not to take this too far, but I don't think four screws does any better than a standard bayonet because it is more likely to suffer minor tilt. I do think a wear-free breech lock is more trustworthy than either, but the shortest mount that did that was the old Canon FL/FD.

Purely from amount of surface area contact I would have said it would be more secure. I guess ultimately it's impossible to tell without testing. I was just putting forward an idea as to why I'd personally do that if I was designing it.

Interesting thing is that there are electronic contacts at the bottom part of the interchangeable mount, so I would assume you get full compatibility (i.e. auto-focus, electronic aperture control, OIS, etc) by using the interchangeable mounts as opposed to using an adapter.

It' mainly PL mount at this end of the market. But people are using other mounts more. RED's interchangable mounts are exceptionally well machined and totally reliable. People buying this won't be using Sony E Mount lenses.

Not only do cinematographers just use one brand of lens, they go through laborious testing to assemble a matched set of lenses that have the same color rendering and general look. Their attention to lenses makes our worrying about whatever is the DPR issue of the month look infantile.

The GXR was a failure because the sensor was in the same module as the lens, so not only were you paying for yet another sensor with every lens purchase, you were also stuck with the same sensor for the remainder of the life of your lens. Nobody in their right mind would invest in an ass-backwards scheme like that.

If a manufacturer released a GXR in three pieces, in which the physical body, electronics, and lenses were all separate modules, people would be all over it. Of course the manufacturers would never go down this road, because it would cut into their profits.

It's high time that the mid-end folks (Canon/Nikon) started shipping some of their existing models without the Bayer filter, and with appropriately modified firmware. I would LOVE a dedicated mono camera, but don't want to pay silly prices for what is effectively an existing model with one layer of plastic peeled off the sensor.

I would also use a dedicated mono stills camera that is priced mid-range. Personally, the use of on-lens colour filters is a trivial issue but I understand that delaying that decision might be better for others.

In my opinion, Silver Efex Pro is fine as far as it goes, but it's pretty limited and fake looking when compared to the effects you can get with filters. But that may just be down to my second-rate post-processing skills.

Ok, silly people, what I meant was this:When you are filming something in slow mo (like someone jumping in a pool) 240fps is perfect. You don't need faster for stuff like that, but it has to be crystal clear 1920x1080. And the reason why it's important to be able to film for more than a few seconds is that sometimes you don't know how long the action is going to last, or what part is going to be the best part, or if you want to film yourself, set up the cam on a tripod, start filming, ride the motorcycle through the puddle, come back, and then cut out the non interesting bits. Casio has that ability, but not in HD. It seems like quite a few cams are close to it, though. Can the Sony do 120fps in FHD for long times?My GoPro Hero 4 Black can do 120fps, but it's hard to frame it correctly since there's no zoom.

I know. We're just joking. I have the same GoPro and I find it only useful is a very select set of circumstances. In most instances, it's just low quality, riddled with artifacts from shakiness+compression, an awkwardly framed. It's a nightmare to edit. I don't like to just leave it at 120fps though either, since the quality is considerably worse than 30fps. From my perspective, the GoPro is just a cell phone camera.

RED obviously isn't the answer because you're not going to have that on your motorcycle. I'm hoping for a Nikon AW2 with fast video, but that probably wont happen, even if they make it.

The next best bet is something coming from Samsung. They are using the H265 codec, which allows for better quality video in smaller packages (NX1 120fps doesn't lose a lot of quality like GH5 120fps does),

While monochrome capture has an arguable niche' in still photography, and I say very 'arguable' I don't quite get the need for this thing.

Having a full RGB capture to reduce in post via selective digital filtration would seem mandatory for any director working with cinema media wanting to produce a monochrome digital print. The improved resolution over the common RGB sensor (we have this same debate in the still realm) is likely to be lost with common DLP projection anyways. Maybe RED sees a market - I don't.

Scott, you're conveniently ignoring the fact that you can use colour contrast filters to achieve the same effect with a monochrome sensor. When you reduce a colour image to B&W using the channel mixer(depending on the filtration you use, lets say you are using a pure red) you are effectively throwing more than half the captured information away due to how bayer equipped sensors work. However by using a monochrome sensor combined with a B&W contrast filter such as a red,green or blue - all the photosites capture information.

you don't have to, you can preview the effect of the contrast filter beforehand. For instance: yellows/orange/red filters make for good skintones, green/blue filters are useful for adding contrast in scenes with a lot of red/orange in them. CPL filters are also useful for monochrome images.

Actually, Canon and Sony video cameras generally have been reported here if they could be seen as vaguely competitive with mirrorless still ILCs. This RED certainly is. Basically, RED is what you get when you throw all the tech you can at spitting out raws at high FPS.

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